Investigating the impact of learning environments on undergraduate students' academic performance in a prerequisite and post-requisite course sequence

This study focused on undergraduate accounting, and employed a mixed methods approach to answer two main research questions. First, does student performance in post-requisite undergraduate accounting education vary based on the learning environment of the prerequisite course? Second, how do the learning environments of prerequisite and post-requisite courses influence student perceptions of the undergraduate accounting course sequence? The results of this study indicate that student academic performance in the post-requisite course does not vary based on the learning environment of the prerequisite course. Additionally, while all students report encountering challenges, face-to-face students rely on self-study, collaboration with peers, and tutoring to overcome these challenges. Conversely, online students rely primarily on self-study to resolve similar challenges. The findings of this study suggest administrators should consider offering online prerequisite courses before, or in conjunction with their associated post-requisites, and provide similar access to external resources to assist with student learning challenges irrespective of learning environment.
Source: The Internet and Higher Education - Category: Information Technology Source Type: research